Let’s Just Forget January 2018

[All in the form of a “Sunday Seven,” but on Friday instead of Sunday.  Apparently, my mind only works in increments of seven now.]

Two Weeks in Hell Heck

Two weeks ago—TWO WEEKS!  FOURTEEN DAYS!—on January 19, I was working on my Outlander season 3 favorite episodes post.  I began having difficulty saving the in-progress post as I had no internet connection.  Not a big problem, I thought.  My router is getting old and it sometimes “burps” offline for a few minutes.  I had the backup plan to write the post offline, then copy and paste when the time was right.

So I took a break to play on my iPad.  (Apple wifi tends to be stronger than Windows.)  But none of my favorites (crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, sudoku) worked.  So, I decided to watch some television.  Nada. Zip.  Zilch.

No cable.  At. All. (#1)

I figured it was a neighborhood outage.  When I returned from a delightful evening out at Olive Garden with friends, the cable was still out.  I graciously allowed the cable folks to work diligently through the night.

Saturday morning?  Still nada.  Finally, I called the cable company.  They scheduled a technician to come out the next day, on Sunday.  I know!  I too was surprised they made calls on Sunday.  It interrupted my plans slightly—I was going to go to the library for internet access—but waiting was the better long-term option.  Except…

the technician never showed!  I called the cable company back, only to find out there was no record that a technician had been scheduled.  They scheduled another call.  But they had no available appointments for Monday, so I’d have to wait until Tuesday.

I lost my shizzits!

But what could I do?  On Tuesday, the technician came, only to find he couldn’t access the outlet where the cable comes into the home.  Which of course happens to be the furthest possible distance from where the television is.

I am not a hoarder! (#2)

Okay, I admit it.  The reason the cable dude couldn’t reach the outlet was because the room was filled with crap.  Christmas junk (how do we collect so much shit for one holiday?!?), a very old twin bed, old area carpets, a broken bookcase (complete with books), an old dresser filled with who knows what, my drying rack, an old chair that had been used as a scratching post (I’m sorry, Mom!), my first 10-speed bicycle.  And that’s just the stuff I can remember.

In my defense, I am not a hoarder.  I don’t have (mental) trouble getting rid of stuff.  But I live on the fourth floor of a walk-up, and some things are simply too bulky or heavy for me.  Plus, I’m lazy.

So I called Got Junk.  Sure they’re expensive, but for me, they’re worth it.

In the meantime: (#3)

The toilet in the main bathroom (next to my bedroom) broke.  It’s a long story, and even more personally embarrassing than the junk room, so we’ll leave it at that.  After about a week, the plumber installed a new toilet.  (I don’t care for the aesthetics, but at least it works.)

$1000 later… (#4)

I’m still without cable.  At least I’d come to terms with it.  Rather than using the time productively, however, I read and wrote.  What I read is a tad embarrassing (mild porn), and what I wrote is not for fit for publication.  But it passed the time pleasantly enough.

When I wanted to download a new ebook, I went to the library or Panera.  With the latter, I made progress on my goal to eat and rate all their sandwiches, recording which ones I like, which I don’t, and those I like but are just too messy to deal with.  It’s a fun pastime.  Perhaps when I’m finished I’ll make a Sunday Seven of my favorites.

Eureka!  (#5)

This past Tuesday or Wednesday I finally realized that while I didn’t have cable, I could still watch dvds and blu ray discs.  Being too lazy to change the disc in the player, I watched two episodes from the first season of Miss Marple (with Joan Hickson!), “Murder at the Vicarage” and “The Moving Finger.”  (In the book of the latter title, Miss Marple doesn’t make an appearance until about 3/4 of the way through.  I had started getting worried when I read it.)

The problem: week 2: (#6)

Got Junk came on Monday.  Tuesday I scheduled the cable guy, for Thursday because I had other appointments on Wednesday.  Cable dude (a different one) came on Thursday, spent three hours figuring out all the problems (cable coming into the home, new cable laid throughout, setting up a fancy new router, and getting the tv picture to behave itself).

Voila! (#7)

I have cable!  The nice surprise is that my regularly scheduled-to-be-recorded programs were still recorded (Poirot and Agents SHIELD—I’ve given up on Supernatural after 13 years.), even though my cable box had not been connected.  Said And what is the very first thing I watch?

Lilo & Stitch!

For the eventheenth time.  In case you don’t know, Lilo & Stitch was given to us by the creative team behind  How to Train Your Dragon, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois,  And I think you know how much I love How to Train Your Dragon.